1. Field
The technology of the present application relates generally to safety enclosures for trampolines, and more specifically to an arched access door for a safety enclosure to facilitate ingress and egress.
2. Background
A trampoline provides a frame having a taut mat coupled to the frame using elastically biased members. A user can stand on the mat and perform various solo or group jumping maneuvers. Trampolines may be used for fun and recreation as well as for training, such as, for extreme skiing.
Trampolines, however, come with many unique safety issues. One issue is falling off of the trampoline. Moreover, the younger the user the more likely the user is to be injured by failing off of the trampoline. Therefore, many owners of trampolines feel it is necessary to provide a safety enclosure to inhibit falling from the trampoline.
Many styles of safety enclosures exist. One such enclosure is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,468, issued to Nichols, Jr. et al. In particular, Nichols shows a trampoline having a frame and a jumping mat connected to the frame via a plurality of sprints. The frame has a plurality of poles extending above the frame to which a flexible member, typically a mesh fabric or plastic, is attached using ties, springs, clips or the like. The poles may be wrapped with a foam sleeve for safety. The enclosure facilitates stopping a user from unintentionally falling off of the jumping surface. Some enclosures function to positively move the user (or jumper) from the edge. Other enclosures function to stop the movement of the user.
The enclosure needs to have an access point to allow ingress and egress from the jumping surface. Some enclosures, such as Nichols, Jr. above, provide a vertical slit at a point in the enclosure. Generally, the vertical slit is formed at a leading and trailing edge of the enclosure to form a single entry, exit point. In some cases, the leading and trailing edges may overlap to inhibit unintentional exiting from the jumping area. To meet ASTM standards, the leading and trailing edges may be connected via a coupling device, such as, for example, corresponding hook-and-loop material, zippers, snaps, ties, or the like. Some enclosures include both a vertical slit and a horizontal slit. In these cases, a flap opens in the enclosure wall.
In both cases, ingress and egress are difficult as the material associated with the entrance remains essentially in the way of the user and must be moved to provide entry. While ingress is not overly difficult even with the fabric in the way as one is stabile on a stationary platform. Egress through the conventional access ports is relatively difficult as the user is trying to exit from an unstable surface. Thus, the possibility of tripping and falling out of the entry/exit point may be increased.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a trampoline enclosure with an improved entry/exit point to address these and other deficiencies in the art.